NiN-Passivated NiO Hole-Transport Layer Improves Halide Perovskite-Based Solar Cell

Anat Itzhak, Xu He, Adi Kama, Sujit Kumar, Michal Ejgenberg, Antoine Kahn, David Cahen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

The interfaces between inorganic selective contacts and halide perovskites (HaPs) are possibly the greatest challenge for making stable and reproducible solar cells with these materials. NiOx, an attractive hole-transport layer as it fits the electronic structure of HaPs, is highly stable and can be produced at a low cost. Furthermore, NiOxcan be fabricated via scalable and controlled physical deposition methods such as RF sputtering to facilitate the quest for scalable, solvent-free, vacuum-deposited HaP-based solar cells (PSCs). However, the interface between NiOxand HaPs is still not well-controlled, which leads at times to a lack of stability and Voclosses. Here, we use RF sputtering to fabricate NiOxand then cover it with a NiyN layer without breaking vacuum. The NiyN layer protects NiOxdoubly during PSC production. Firstly, the NiyN layer protects NiOxfrom Ni3+species being reduced to Ni2+by Ar plasma, thus maintaining NiOxconductivity. Secondly, it passivates the interface between NiOxand the HaPs, retaining PSC stability over time. This double effect improves PSC efficiency from an average of 16.5% with a 17.4% record cell to a 19% average with a 19.8% record cell and increases the device stability.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)47587-47594
Number of pages8
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume14
Issue number42
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Funding

The authors thank Dr. Eti Teblum (BIU) for AFM measurements, Shay Tirosh for his help with the EQE measurements, and Ziv Ben Daniel for insightful discussions. A.I. thanks the Israel Ministry of Science & Technology for the PhD fellowship support. This research was supported by Grant No. 2018349 from the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF). S.K. held an Israel Council of Higher Learning PBC/VATAT PD fellowship at Bar-Ilan University. At the Weizmann Institute of Science, the work was supported by the WIS Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative (SAERI).

FundersFunder number
Israel Council of Higher Learning PBC
SAERI
VATAT
WIS Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative
Weizmann Institute of Science
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Ministry of science and technology, Israel2018349

    Keywords

    • halide perovskites
    • interface
    • nickel nitride
    • nickel oxide
    • passivation
    • solar cells

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